That Mission I Volunteered For
by Runespoor
Summary: Naruto and Sakura run to rescue Sasuke; Ino tags alongs. Shenanigans with Team Taka, the hunt for Itachi, and a lot of feelings. [sequel to 'Strange Kind of Sanity', stands on its own. AU for post 345/346/347.][NaruSasuSaku, InoSaku]


The sequel to _Strange Kind of Sanity_ , from which all you need to know is that when Naruto and Sakura run to get Sasuke back, Ino insists to tag along. AU for post-345/346/347. (I'd forgotten I'd forgotten to ever upload this fic on this site.)

* * *

It was a well-known fact for the most of Konoha and a decent part of at least two other ninja villages _and_ a selective grouping of civilians in a purely civilian country, not to mention the rare murdering psychopath in the most selective terrorist organisation in all the Five Countries, that Konoha's Team Seven was, for lack of a better term, absolutely _batshit crazy_.

But that, after you gave it about half a thought, was understandable. There were many factors that could explain how Team Seven had turned out; genetics, history's propensity of biting its own tail, raging pubescent hormones, and did we mention _batshit craziness_?

A lesser known fact was that anyone coming in prolonged contact with Team Seven found themselves brutally contaminated as well.

At least, that was the conclusion Yamanaka Ino, age fifteen, more or less missing-nin, member of well-balanced, ordinary, _boring Team Ten_ , had been forced to reach recently.

She hadn't made a mystery out of it once the epiphany struck, and had in fact vengefully thrust the fact onto Haruno Sakura's immaculate billboard-brow like one would with the corpse of a cat.

Sakura, unluckily, had failed to react in any noteworthy manner, only raising a cool eyebrow and declaring that certifiably schizophrenic or not, Ino was still going to have to get into that girl's body, get up to Sasuke-kun, and get him back here under any fallacious excuse she could think up, which shouldn't be too much of a hardship given that Ino, quote Sakura, possessed an astounding propensity toward bull-shitting people, only matched by that of Naruto when he decided to let his dick do his thinking in his place, now hurry up and go, chop-chop.

What was Ino supposed to say to that?

So yeah, she'd got into the girl's body (red-head, bespectacled, and very, very hot-pants. Her jacket was awful and her haircut a total _nightmare_ , but Ino told herself that the fantabulous ass made up for having to put up with the rest of the fashion disaster. At least she wouldn't be too hard on the eyes when she walked around like that. Still, she couldn't help but mentally wrinkle her nose when she slipped into the girl's body like into an undercover kimono; that was the trouble with shintenshin, you never knew where bodies had _been_ ), sashayed up to Sasuke-kun (the girl's body – Karin, she'd found out when Sasuke had spoken to her – being somewhat less suited to sashaying than her own), and got him back under the trees.

She'd originally thought it'd be dreadfully complicated, and, indeed, she'd managed to confuse herself quite thoroughly into her three stories while Sasuke just watched on with a rather bored expression and a half-arched eyebrow (which had made Ino understand rather more of Naruto's frustration with the Uchiha than she'd previously thought possible – the thoughts going in her mind along the lines of _what a bastard_ and _come on, asshole, take the bait_ ).

In the end, too frustrated for words, she'd just sunk her claws into Sasuke's loose sleeve – Ino's reflections on the matter being _easy-access clothing WHAT_ soon followed by _aren't Forehead and Naruto gonna get MAD_ –, gripped, and stomped her way back to where her partners were presumably waiting for her.

Such was the plan.

She'd almost let go of the cloth and whirled around to gape at him when she'd realised he was, in fact, making no effort to break free.

She quickly defeated the thoughts _that_ engineered by mentally wiping her hands of the entire business and classifying the whole Uchiha situation as _Sakura and Naruto's own goddamn problem-kink_.

So she'd dragged the errant teammate to his loving pursuers, they'd had their screaming emotional dramatic stand-down of unhingement among the various burning forests, busted craters, and blowing hurricanes they felt conveyed appropriately their feelings, with Ino _way_ too involved and in the middle of it all for her peace of mind.

It only helped, in the vaguest sense of the word, to know that she was bound to be there because it would be no use – nay, because it would be _senseless_ to ask Sakura to retreat out of something that concerned her in exactly the same epic proportions as the boys.

It also didn't help that Ino's trademark techniques were useless against such opponents – Ino had known since That Chuunin Exam never to try and take over Sakura's mind, shintenshin was at best powerless against the sharingan (she'd spent many an afternoon poring over musty volumes in order to know what kind of moves she could pull against Sasuke should she some day be confronted with him – not that she'd ever fantasised about killing him bloodily and then force him to apologise forehead _grinding into the dust_ to Sakura, of course), and even Ino knew better than to interfere with Naruto, what with the seal and the Kyuubi and all.

But in the end, they'd made it through; Ino had helped distract Sasuke's teammates, and here teammates didn't mean Sakura and Naruto, because, would you believe it, the asshole had actually had the gall to go and get himself a new team as if he hadn't deserted his old one and left them struggling against all kinds of depression, especially Sakura. It just made Ino want to hurt him a little.

And that should have been the end of that.

Except that _of course_ it hadn't, because _akldshjfjsjdj_ Naruto, and _asjlfsljskjdl_ Sasuke, and _aslksdhjkid aaaaargh FOREHEAD_. Which was the most articulate you could hope to get out of Ino these days.

Catching up to Sasuke apparently wasn't enough, not that Ino could honestly blame them.

Certitude that Sasuke was indeed _Sasuke_ had been attained within days of their departure, and once they'd been relieved of their worst fear, Sakura and Naruto had decided at once that they were going to _help him_ reach his goal, the killing of one Uchiha Itachi.

No, Ino couldn't blame them, not anymore that she could pretend their self-appointed mission had stopped concerning her and return to Konoha.

But still.

She refused to interpret the fact as an excuse for why she should relish the concept of facing down Itachi.

However much Karin made her spiteful little comments on it.

In the three weeks they'd travelled all together, Karin had made it clear she despised the ground Sakura and Ino walked on. It made sense, Ino guessed, because stealing someone's body generally wasn't conducive to endearing the thief to the, er, victim, no matter how much of a whiny bitch said victim proved or didn't prove to be.

And Sakura was Sasuke's original girl teammate. Karin wanted him to treat her like a girl. Of course Karin'd be jealous.

After all, it was only around Sakura that Sasuke played the part.

Ino wasn't sure how much the others had noticed – she knew Karin had, and she suspected there might be a chance Suigetsu and Juugo had as well.

There was an occasional knowing, amused look in Suigetsu's eyes when Sasuke wasn't watching – hell, Suigetsu had even _winked_ at her once – and Juugo was pretty much the Sensitive Boy stereotype in the flesh. In the rather hot flesh, and had he not been a member of Sasuke's team or had she not been following Sakura, she'd probably have been much more consistent in her meditations of teaching him in the way of said flesh.

She already knew neither Sakura nor Naruto were aware of anything out of the ordinary.

It drove her to slight maiming urges.

Of course everyone would see how the three of them acted around one another, except for them.

Did Sasuke even realise that he never walked so far away from them he wouldn't be able to lunge in front of them should they walk into a trap? Did Naruto realise how long he spent watching Sasuke with half-closed eyelids, calmly, in an almost proprietary way, when they stopped in the evening and Sasuke was sitting on the other side of the fire? Did Sakura realise she was much more prone to touching any other one of them – _any_ kind of touch, _any_ one of them – than she was to do as much as even _brush_ past her precious Sasuke-kun?

That Sasuke couldn't always refrain from opening his mouth, as if he wanted to reply, when Naruto spoke, even if he closed it right after, and more and more often he'd lick his lips as he did so; couldn't quite repress the fluster when Sakura turned toward him and asked him with a smile if he agreed; couldn't at all keep the tiny smile off his face when the two bickered.

That Naruto teased them both in a more definite manner now. As if there was a goal to it, even if he didn't know it yet. That sometimes, when Sakura took on the pensive expression that meant she was exploring some strategically metaphorical sphere not meant for the rest of tiny-brained mankind, tapping her fore- and mid-fingers against her lips, he'd spend as long glancing at Sasuke as he did admiring Sakura. That his boasting now consisted mostly of how great a nin Sakura-chan had become, and how _smoothly_ the two of them worked together.

That Sakura was flirting with Naruto even when she was threatening to beat down on him. That the times she didn't look at Sasuke were just as telling as the eternities she'd had her eyes glued on him when they were younger. That she only had half an ear for Ino, now, unless Ino provided some sort of input or she called her, _Forehead_ , in her smuggest tone.

Ino was a little jealous too.

After all, _she_ had been the one watching over Sakura when the boys were galivanting on their own with perverted sensei who couldn't care less about teamwork.

She'd been the one who'd had to play jigsaw puzzle and fit the pieces together when it sometimes felt two-third of the pieces were missing and she was subject to fleeting doubts about whether the remaining third belonged at all in the Big Forehead Jigsaw Puzzle, Now With 50% More Brow.

But Ino had taken an instant dislike for Karin as well, because Karin had _no business_ shooting dirty looks at Sakura.

That wasn't allowed.

Sakura was Ino's to tease, and that was that.

(And Naruto's, but that may have been simply because it was an intrinsinc defect of Naruto to be physically unable of going through the day without teasing the hell out of people who were either, 1° teammates, or 2° pretty easily riled-up girls, and Sakura, unfortunately for her, belonged to both categories.)

The boys, on the other hand, were bearable.

Admittedly, Suigetsu was as annoying as Naruto, Kiba, that little twerp Konohamaru, a lounging Kankuro of the Sand, _and_ Shikamaru on his sardonic days in a blender. However, as he kept Karin occupied – even if it was in decibel-massively-producing ways – Ino found herself... liking him might be an exaggeration. Balancing between thinking she'd found a kindred spirit and wanting to murder him with a blunted kunai might be more accurate.

At first he'd tried being _friendly_ -friendly toward Sakura and Ino had needed a moment to adjust to the idea of the _water boy_ flirting with _Sakura_ , but thankfully he'd switched gears fast enough that Ino hadn't needed do more than contemplating various ways of making his death look like an accident.

 _Sakura_ wasn't _one of those girls_.

Of course, his quick abandonment of the notion might also have had something to do with Sakura's utter obliviousness and Karin's distinct begging-for-someone-to-shut-her-up- _now_ , which required immediate action.

Because Naruto and Sasuke?

Like, _clueless_ when someone was hitting on their teammate.

Okay, so it wasn't as if Suigetsu had come out straight, and yeah, so he wasn't monopolising her, but damn.

But no, it'd looked as if Sasuke was _happy_ one of his new teammates got along well with one of his old teammates ( _slut_ , Ino found herself uncharitably thinking in his direction), and Naruto just seemed gleeful that he had someone else with whom he could egg Sasuke on ( _manwhore_ , which wasn't much better but acknowledged Naruto's offensive _maleness_ ).

 _Men._

Hopeless.

Still, once the original misconception had been dispatched, Suigetsu was all right. They were completely uninterested in one another and obviously shared a few hobbies as far as sarcastic running commentary were concerned, and so were good friends. It was slightly odd in the way that bitchy talk and straight males were not supposed to mix, especially when you added a straight female in the form of Ino in the mix, but it was loads of fun.

Even if Ino had sometimes the impression that he was laughing at her.

That left Juugo, who reminded her of Chouji in some ways, and whom she found herself not pulling a move on for reasons unknown.

Juugo was all right.

He was very nice, and quite handsome, and both perceptive and a little clumsy, and interestingly conflicted, and all kinds of perfect boyfriend material, and all Ino felt when she looked at him was a distant sort of regret.

As if he was wearing some sort of hands-off sign. Or not, because Ino had no qualms about breaking relationships if she'd taken a liking to the boy and he showed similar willingness.

But here all she found herself doing was look at him and feel heart-wrenching _objectivity_ as to how it might have been and would not be.

Like – like a pair of shoes.

Like she was walking past a shop's window, and there'd be the perfect pair of shoes catching her eye; she'd stop, and admire, and _amazingly_ not want to buy it. She wouldn't even want to enter into the shop, much less bemoan being cheap as ramen or manipulate someone to get them for her – and that was nigh unimaginable for Ino.

Like she'd already found and bought a _better_ , even _more perfect_ pair of shoes, and now they were _hers_ , and she had no need for another pair that was slightly less perfect.

And so she'd walk away with her new shoes in their bag in her hand, and she simply wouldn't think of buying also the pair of shoes in the window.

But in spite or maybe because of that – because Juugo was completely unaware that Ino, in another universe, would have been plotting how best to seduce him – she liked him a lot.

Ino wasn't sure what would happen to the three of them after Sasuke went back to Konoha, and she sometimes felt a pang when she thought of the future. They weren't exceptionally bloodthirsty, or treacherous, or evil-minded, and it was a little sad that they weren't Konoha shinobi.

She hoped that they didn't die against Kisame, and, more importantly, that they managed to beat him, otherwise the planned stupid fight against Itachi would be even less in their favour than it was in the first place.

 _Remind me again why I have agreed to do this_ , Ino didn't say aloud because she knew the answer better than anybody, and probably no-one would pay her any more attention than to Naruto's grumblings, and in any case there was no-one to complain to around at the moment.

 _Oh yeah..._

 _Because stupid Sakura grabbed Naruto and decided to be a hero and go missing-nin on Konoha so as to save/help/rescue/beat the crap out of_ stupid Sasuke. _And I insisted on coming with them._

 _Yes._

 _I'm a fricking genius._

 _Which brings me..._

Which brought her in the middle of a forest – times like these, it was like they hadn't left Konoha at all, with all those trees always surrounding them, as if all the other landscapes they'd ran across in their mad chase were just figments of dreams – but no, she couldn't, shouldn't think like that, it was real, all of it had been real, and right now was just as real as the rest – fighting Uchiha Itachi.

Fighting Uchiha Itachi.

Or, well, actually, watching over the area in a bird's body to make sure they woudn't get interrupted while Sasuke was doing the fighting, and Sakura and Naruto were waiting with her body somewhere between the trees, Naruto pacing and Sakura regularly checking for genjutsu.

She suspected Naruto was taking it even less well than her, given that his role in the plan was to do, strictly speaking, nothing useful, and instead the plan focused heavily on what he was not to do – intervene in the fight, distract Sakura, and grope Ino's unconscious body so roughly she'd have bruises when she came to.

In fact, no-one had been happy with the plan. Sakura just hid it better than Naruto – and found a consolation in her role of shield against Itachi's 'freaky genjutsu', according to Naruto – and Sasuke hadn't made any effort to conceal how little he trusted their self-control.

And originally what Sasuke had tried to make them agree to was even worse.

'Get in a tree and do nothing,' he'd stated with the complete lack of tact that used to make every would-be-rebellious little girl's heart beat faster because they hadn't realised he'd be just as much of a jerk to his one true love.

Needless to say, the veto had been unanimous.

So, after another of the shouting/glaring/snarling/chakra-sizzling matches Ino should have _known_ to expect, during which she choked on the very Team Seven-ness seeping into the air, another plan had been drawn.

Ino and Sakura were to stand guard with their respective abilities, and, if Sasuke wasn't back twenty-three minutes after he'd left them, the three of them were allowed to come and see if they could do something to help. As long as they didn't touch Itachi, Sasuke been adamant. And _no fucking gambit either_ , he'd hissed with a murderous glare at Naruto.

" _Fine," Sakura finally bit out. "We won't do anything. But if you're not back after fifteen minutes, we're going after you."_

" _No."_

 _Sakura's eyes had narrowed in a way frighteningly similar to Naruto's. In Ino's opinion, this expression meant that if Sasuke persisted, he wouldn't have to worry about defeating his brother due to being severely crippled._

" _I thought you didn't want to die," Naruto said blandly._

" _I don't." Sasuke didn't look up from the katana he was sharpening. "And I won't."_

" _You're planning on fighting your brother in a duel to the death."_

" _I'm strong enough."_

 _Sakura tried for another approach. "You can't break yourself out of the Mangekyou, though." She looked at him inquisitively. "Or can you?"_

 _Sasuke chose not to answer. Ino glanced at Sasuke's three other teammates; like her, they were listening to the conversation but hadn't spoken since their own part had been decided upon._

" _I'll kill him," Sasuke said calmly._

" _Suppose you don't," Sakura offered._

" _I'll kill him," he repeated._

" _Okay, can you imagine for a moment that maybe this might not all go according to plan? Through_ no fault of yours, of course _," as he said this, Naruto rolled his eyes hard, "but perhaps Kisame might escape your friends' attention – no offense guys – and then you'd be fighting both of them at the same time? What then, genius?"_

 _Sasuke's hand that held the whetstone stilled, then started again._

" _Itachi wouldn't kill me."_

 _Naruto visibly refrained from grabbing Sasuke by the collar and shaking him._

 _Good call, since shaking him when he was wearing that shirt would have no other result than leave him bare-chested, and the fewer brain-cells everyone lost to it the better. Ino, for one, had no intention of witnessing the scene Karin would make should someone not-her accidentally undress Sasuke-kun._

" _He thinks I'm not worth it."_

" _Unless he agrees you're grown strong enough," Sakura observed. "That's always been the issue, unless I'm mistaken."_

 _Sasuke stayed silent for a short moment, then asked, "What do you suggest?"_

 _Had it been anyone else, Ino reflected, this should have been the moment when all tension left the group and everyone relaxed, knowing that the most important battle was won, and now all that was left were mere details._

 _Not so with Sasuke, who could be the most stupidly stubborn over the most stupid things. Ino had known it was only a matter of time before Sasuke gave in to Sakura and Naruto's insistence to discuss a workable plan._

 _The real battle of wills was beginning now._

 _Ino could see Sakura and Naruto bracing themselves before diving into the maelstrom of Sasuke's torrential stupidity._

" _Fifteen minutes if you're not back, and we're coming after you," Sakura repeated. "And all at once if you're gravely wounded."_

" _No."_

 _This time, Naruto couldn't stop himself._

 _He stood up and slammed his hands down on Sasuke's knees as though they were some kind of table, leaning violently forward as Sasuke leaned backward, clearly displeased by the blatant violation of his personal space._

 _It was a little surprising that Sasuke didn't do anything more than tense slightly and look at Naruto through narrowed eyes – he was so fast, he could easily shove him away and be standing on the other side of the clearing before Naruto had even had the time to stumble._

 _From where she was sitting, Ino could see the whisker marks on Naruto's cheeks were slightly thicker than usual, and it couldn't be the red of the flames reflecting in his eyes; he had his back to the fire._

 _Ino searched for Sakura's eyes, but her friend, if her brow was slightly furrowed, was looking further down; following her gaze, Ino found Sasuke's hand, and felt her jaw fall open._

 _Sasuke's left hand was clenched on the sword's hilt so tight his knuckles were white._

 _Naruto hadn't noticed, and was whispering, his voice trembling with repressed anger._

" _What's it with you and not getting that we want to_ help you _, bastard? I know that you get you don't have to do anything on your own anymore, you wouldn't have got yourself a team if you still believed that. So what's the problem? We're not gonna fight Itachi if that's what you want. Fuck, I'm not saying we'd be useless, because you know_ as well as I do _that it's_ not true _, but you know him much better than Sakura-chan or I, and you've been training to fight him since you were a kid, and we haven't._

" _So you want Itachi all on your own? Fine, you can have him. He's yours, anyway – it's never been the issue, you stupid fuck._

" _But we want to_ help you _. You_ know _I can be damn distracting, when I put my mind to it, so I can rush in and be a distraction. He wants the Kyuubi, right? I promise not to do anything but distract him and avoid his hits. I won't even defend myself, if that's what you want. I promise, you get that?_

" _And Sakura-chan's a medic-nin. That means when you're tired and bleeding after fifteen minutes spent fighting against Itachi, or Itachi gets a lucky shot and you're choking on your own fucking blood – just let me talk," he cut Sasuke when Sasuke looked like he wanted to interrupt, "she can_ heal _you. I swear she won't try to puncture Itachi's lung, you can ask her, right, you won't, Sakura-chan?"_

 _His voice rang louder at the question, but neither Naruto nor Sasuke looked away from one another, and Sakura herself only rolled her eyes for a moment, before replying in a perfunctory tone, "Of course I won't, I promise, not that either of you's listening," she finished under her breath._

 _She was right, of course, as Naruto hadn't waited for confirmation before trampling on._

" _And please,_ please _Sasuke, don't answer that it's cheating, because we're ninjas, and that's really, really not the point."_

 _He paused for a moment. His eyes and marks were back to normal, and he stayed as he was, leaning too close to Sasuke, as he searched into Sasuke's eyes._

" _Got it?" he finished softly._

 _Ino only realised how open Sasuke's expression had been when it closed down. His Adam's apple bobbed – the only outward sign that he was swallowing – then he deadpanned, "Thirty minutes."_

 _Ino barely bit back an incredulous laugh. Judging from the corner of her lips, Sakura was clamping down on a smile as well; the tension had suddenly vanished – and everyone was doing their utmost not let it out that they understood Sasuke had capitulated._

 _Yet Naruto didn't let go of Sasuke yet._

" _Fifteen."_

 _A twitch in Sasuke's shoulders._

" _Twenty-five," he said between gritted teeth._

 _Ino wanted to laugh out loud at the sheer exhilaration filling her now, dizzy on a victory that was, what, pure symbol?, Naruto and Sasuke arguing over_ five minutes _, and even though Ino was as aware as any of them that these five minutes could make the difference between death and life, it was so, so – so much like the Naruto and Sasuke she remembered from D-class days, glimpses, so much less than what Sakura must've known, what she must now feel, and when Ino looked at Sakura the expression on her friend's face_ hurt _._

 _Naruto uncovered gleaming teeth as he smiled into Sasuke's face._

" _Twenty," he taunted with a grin that would knock anyone on their back. He wasn't even trying to hide the laughter in his eyes._

 _Sasuke twitched again. So did his eyelid._

" _Twenty-three," he called impatiently, "and get your hands off me, you moron."_

 _Ino wondered about the accuracy of her translation; 'Fine! Have it your way, then, and stop messing with my already crumbling-at-the-top walls of stoicism, you forward freak!'_

 _Naruto, however, chose to push._

" _Twenty-two?"_

 _Ino wasn't sure how much of it Naruto himself believed he could obtain; this time he looked distinctly teasing, and he'd made it sound like he was a kid asking for just another bowl of ramen._

"Naruto _," Sasuke grouched, eyes slit._

" _Come ooooon, Sasukeeeee..."_

 _He was leaning closer than ever to Sasuke, their faces barely inches away._

 _Sasuke's eyes widened fractionally – or Ino had imagined it, but in any case the next moment Sasuke had batted Naruto's hands away and swept a vicious blow at Naruto's knee with the flat of his sword, and Naruto fell on his knees to the side with a suspiciously laughing 'oof' as Sasuke stood up smoothly, as if he had never been disturbed in the world._

" _I said twenty-three, dead-last," he said without a glance at Naruto._

" _Yeah, yeah, I know," Naruto picked himself up with a laugh and a wince, "damn, that hurt, bastard. Why're you always so violent? Ouch. Sakura-chaaaaan," he started to whine, still half-grinning._

 _Sasuke ignored him._

" _As long as you don't touch Itachi. And_ no fucking gambit either _," he whipped around to glare down his nose at Naruto. "I don't want to have to deal with your fuck-ups and rescue you, got that, dead-last?"_

 _He'd glanced at Sakura as if he wanted to tell her to keep Naruto in line but didn't quite dare to give her direct orders, or as if he wasn't quite sure what he should do with her, and then he'd stonily looked into nothingness._

Later, when they were getting to the tree Sasuke had decided they should hide in – obsessive control freak – Sakura had told Ino that if the two of them had been unable to compromise on their own, she'd been ready to impose 'twenty-three' when they started being more violent than wary (in Sasuke's case) or determined (in Naruto's).

And so Ino was there, hovering over the area and wishing the Uchiha brothers had chosen another ring for their final stand-down, somewhere a little less full of trees that blocked her vision field, perhaps.

She didn't put it past Sasuke to have agreed to her part simply because of that.

Dammit.

And on top of everything, it looked like rain.

How long since she'd taken off?

Not twenty-five minutes, that was for sure, and since Sasuke had only left his teammates half a dozen minutes or so after she'd gone... She was so stupid, she should've kept an eye on them anyway. She was all the way up there in the sky, so it wasn't as if she'd have overheard them.

But no, instead of watching for when Sasuke departed from the tree, she had politely busied herself in looking elsewhere (Itachi had been exactly where he was supposed to, at the encampment he and his partner had set up a couple of days before) out of a misguided desire of respecting team privacy.

Stupid.

As if whatever they said would've been less private if Ino looked at the group out of the corner of her eye – bird of prey or not, she wouldn't have been able to read on their lips unless they were facing her and she was staring straight at them.

And she'd had that brilliant idea all on her own, too. Once she'd been up in the sky, she'd been overtaken by a sudden over-politeness crisis and had let her sentimentality get in the way of duty.

 _So considerate, Ino._

 _So thoughtful_ , Sakura's voice sweetly murmured. _I hope you'll do as good when you make bouquets for Sasuke-kun's grave._

 _Do you know what his favourite flower is, Ino? No?_

 _Well, you'll just have to ask Naruto and me, then, and hope we HAVEN'T GOT OURSELVES KILLED by ATTACKING ITACHI out of HEART-BROKEN REVENGE because YOU FAILED US, THEN._

At this stage of her reprimand, Ino gave up and, folding her wings, dove toward the tree. The less far her mind was forced to snap, the less chakra she used and the less disoriented she'd be in the end. She threw a hasty glance Sasuke and Itachi's way, and from what she could see, everything seemed to be going okay, but judging the okayness of that fight, Ino would readily own up to it, was a little out of her league. She was used to Team Ten normal, she didn't _do_ Team Seven fucked-uppery.

She called the technique off before she had to deal with the landing part, and found herself blinking up at Naruto and Sakura.

A moment later Naruto had grabbed Ino and Naruto and Sakura were leaping through the trees.

"What's wrong?" Sakura called.

Ino blinked, and called herself stupid. And now she was making them panic on top of it!...

"Nothing," she replied as she tried to throttle the feeling of faint wretchedness that she'd worried them about Sasuke for nothing, and dismally failing.

"Doesn't matter," Naruto remarked as he vigorously propelled himself – and a grimacing, shaken Ino – toward the next branch, "the twenty-two minutes were practically up anyway."

An uninterrupted flow of curses and insults directed at Naruto's masculinity, Sasuke's parentage, and Sakura's _everything_ ran through Ino's mind as her brain hurt with how _typically Team Seven-ish_ that remark and their current situation were.

She didn't have the time to conclude her inner tirade with neither a bang nor a whimper, much less a flourish, because suddenly Ino's stomach somersaulted as Naruto and Sakura jumped down the trees.

Naruto released her, and she quickly let go of the hold she'd got on his neck when he was carrying her like some potato sack.

"Thank kami Sasuke-kun hasn't been using Katon," Sakura muttered.

Mutely, Naruto nodded, and Ino fleetingly wondered how much better than her these two knew Sasuke and the kind of sly double-edged tricks he favoured.

For a minute nobody moved.

Only a dozen of meters away, Sasuke and Itachi were standing, immobile, facing one another.

Ino felt her throat tighten in fear, remembering the numerous warnings she'd been given about Itachi's special brand of unnatural genjutsu ( _Sakura shook her head; "it's not just a phrase, Pig. He can trap you if you look in his eyes, but on top of that he can_ project _an illusion on you if you're looking at his_ pointed finger _." Ino had felt her eyes widening, and she'd protested, "but that's not possible!" "I know," Sakura had retorted. "But that still happened. I was there, I saw Naruto."_ ) but she quickly reined the sensation in.

If there was one person in the world who was unlikely to take Itachi's abilities lightly, especially abilities related to the Sharingan... Besides, he was standing there and not acting out or unconscious on the ground, therefore everything seemed to point that he was under no genjutsu at all.

Another possibility would be that Ino was the one under the genjutsu, but Itachi had had no opportunity to catch her off guard, otherwise she'd remem—

Ino quietly rose her hands and locked her fingers into the dispelling seal.

"Kai," she said under her breath.

When nothing happened, she let her hands fall down again.

Contrarily to what she'd thought, she didn't feel at all like she'd made a fool out of herself; actually, she felt better about herself than she had since the moment Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto had started arguing on strategies. Better look paranoid than dead.

A twinge of pleasant, warm surprise went through her when she saw Sakura emulate her, out of the corner of her eyes, then put a hand on Naruto's shoulder to push some chakra into his system; Naruto had been looking at Sakura uneasily, and Ino was reminded how _bad_ the duo had made sure she knew he was.

Naruto was especially susceptible to genjutsu and it wasn't impossible Itachi would decide to target him and take off with the Kyuubi vessel, and Ino would in no way be able to protect either him or Sakura if Itachi went at her from close-range.

She had a bad feeling about this.

Nevertheless, she forced herself to step up until she was standing slightly before Sakura.

"Your friends are here," Itachi remarked mildly.

It could mean anything, and Ino squashed the shiver before it even started. Healthy paranoia was one thing, timidity was another entirely. So what if Ino could hardly hope to defeat him? She wasn't going to _attack_ him!

"Pity," Sasuke growled. "I'd hoped to get it over with before they arrived."

Looking at him from the back, Ino noticed no injuries, no burns; he hardly looked like he'd been fighting at all, much less for twenty minutes. His weight rested almost entirely on his left leg – the side opposite to his katana – which might point out to injuries she couldn't see. Unfortunately, Ino didn't know enough about swordmanship to know if it was a normal on-guard position, and less about Sasuke and Itachi's relation out of the obvious, so she didn't know if Sasuke would employ a classical opening or not, and what his choice might or might not mean.

As for Itachi, all she could see, as she watched him covertly, not daring glance above waist-level and ready to flick her gaze downward should he do as much as shift a finger, was a long, thin cut into his Akatsuki cloak, under his right knee.

It made her wonder what kind of jutsus they'd used until then.

 _Genjutsu_ , the word sprang to her mind like a curse, and she refrained her first reflex of furiously batting it away; instead, she considered the possibility, forcing herself to calm down, refusing to let herself be driven to pre-genin level _superstition_ by a mere _noun_.

She could fight genjutsu. Not as well as Uchiha Itachi, but she'd never looked down on it as if it was somehow less worthy of her attention than ninjutsu or taijutsu.

She'd been trained for infiltration and stealth; that meant she'd trained more than any other type of shinobi to look underneath the underneath – trained with all the more will and cold, rage-tempered patience because observation and deduction hadn't come easily to her.

Ino's first instinct, in front of an obvious bait, would always be to take it.

She'd had to work hard for ways of thinking around traps, not because she was stupid, but because she'd always favoured the shortest road, no matter the risks involved.

It had taken her many years to accept that the shortest road was not necessarily the most straightforward.

And genjutsu, when you came down to it, was the coarsest form of a lie.

Yes, Ino consciously thought, they may have used genjutsu. And they had probably talked as well; or spent long fragments of time silently trying to intimidate the other with their presence. (underneath the underneath, that was what it was about.) A couple of more direct exchanges as well, as an emphasis, as a tactical manoeuvre to get the measure of their opponent. Sasuke would have been the one to attack first, of course. (there was no genjutsu for her to break, but that didn't mean she couldn't see through their reality.)

"Do you require healing, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked in a clear voice.

Ino could only admire her friend's professionalism, and the steel glinting through. The detached, formal way of wording her suggestion, like on a mission report or to a superior, and the refusal to withdraw into artificial distance. Only Sakura.

Ino could only worry for her friend's insolence, and the steel glinting through. It wasn't all that impossible that Itachi would take offence and decide to cut her down before she could patch Sasuke up – who could know with insane kin-slaughtering psycho ex-ANBU, right? Trepidation filled her with adrenalin, and she let it, only making sure to keep her face still in determination.

Sasuke, predictably, ignored her.

Had it been any other fight, now would have been the time Naruto threw his weapons on the ground and starting yelling at the bastard that they had to work as a _team_ before he checked himself and moodily retrieved his kunai, while Sakura more or less calmly repeated her question.

The routine was as old as the two's suggestion that the three of them should train together; after all, they'd temptingly hinted, they _had_ been taught by Sannin as well, and Orochimaru had appeared to take Naruto seriously enough last time they'd met that he'd stopped laughing.

Ino, who'd been unaware of the episode, had started, and Sasuke had slowly looked at them, considering them for a long time before finally giving a short nod.

Ino wasn't sure of the exact nature of the expression that had then crossed his face like a cloud, but she hadn't missed the sharp glance that had gone between Suigetsu and Karin.

Today, Naruto didn't react at all – or if he did, it was wordlessly, a frown or a jaw clenching, while Ino was busy watching the two in front of her and running feverish considerations on what move Sakura and Naruto were likely to pull, and how best she could go at helping them. Wishes for Shikamaru's presence had never been more acute to her mind than in that moment.

" _Alright_ ," Naruto growled.

And with that, he dashed toward Itachi.

The most amazing, Ino thought later, wasn't the three clones that came at Itachi from behind at the same time, but that Sasuke didn't make a move to stop him.

Or it wasn't how Itachi's four shuriken dispatched the Naruto-shapes and the realisation that the one that'd been standing with Sakura and her since they'd left the trees was a clone all along, or that Itachi hadn't taken his eyes off his brother for even a moment, but that she wondered then if Sasuke had known, had guessed, that the real Naruto wasn't among the four attackers.

She didn't have the time to wonder too long, though, because –

Through the dissipating smoke of one of the clones, Naruto lunged at Itachi with a battle cry.

" _YAAAAAAAAARRH!_ "

Itachi sidestepped.

And that was when everything bled into chaos.

Ino didn't blink, and in a flash Sasuke was on Itachi with his blade slicing down and Naruto was flying backward and Sakura was running toward her fallen teammate – Ino followed – the katana fell out of Sasuke's hand and a strangled gasped scream came out of his mouth, because Itachi had snatched his wrist and he must be clenching, or something, because Sasuke's fingers fell open at once – Naruto stood up before Sakura reached him, his eyes burning red and Sakura pushed on her legs and leaped so far Ino's breath caught, far enough that she slapped a hand on Naruto's arm as she landed – right, right, genjutsu, and not knowing if you were in one or not – _keep running_.

Sasuke dove to the ground and swept a kick at his brother's legs – who _still_ had Sasuke's wrist in a clutch – Itachi must've jumped over it or something, because he sure as hell was still standing and _god_ Naruto was still running at them, was this boy stupid or what, and now Sakura was making seals and Itachi had to dispell the Naruto clone with a kick to the side – if he was holding Sasuke he couldn't form seals, but Ino wasn't sure that was any reason to gloat if Sasuke's unfocused jerking was any indication and genuine and not Sasuke playing a part – wait, if that was a clone, where was Naruto?

Sakura's suiton crashed into the giant fireball and annihilated it before any of the Uchiha was roasted alive – what _was_ Sasuke thinking, he was _this_ close to his brother – he rolled over on the ground, Itachi had let him go – Itachi turned toward Naruto (clone again?) – Sasuke had his katana again.

Itachi was facing Naruto and then – _fast_ – and a kunai with an explosive note attached flew at about a third of the distance between Naruto and Itachi, Naruto's side, and Naruto jumped back and Itachi had to stop, more or less, and as he straightened Ino realised something, _kunai with an explosive note attached_ , not a Sasuke or Sakura move and not such a Naruto move either but very much a Team Ten move and oh god when had she even taken hers out and _flipped one at Uchiha Itachi_ – okay no hyperventilating like _now_.

No explosion, a pause, I am so screwed, and _then_ explosion – never, ever, _ever_ send an explosive note in an area soaked by a fricking _water technique_ unless you factor it in, airhead, and okay, where's he now?

Shriek, Sakura's, _kunais and shuriken at the black and red cloak standing over her don't TOUCH her_ and clone goes _swoosh_ – not _fair_ – not targetting Sakura, way more important – that was too easy even for a clone unless he didn't expect me to do anything, where is he.

 _Behind you._

Whip around, no, luckily not behind her, but _again_ at Naruto and Sasuke's chakra was crackling blue in his left hand and Uchihas _way fast_ and _what was happening no_.

Sasuke blurring toward Itachi with a thousand birds screeching behind him and Naruto heaving and trembling and not moving – _genjutsu_ – and Itachi standing between them in front of Naruto and turning to face Sasuke _in slow motion_ when Sasuke's hand was already reaching in front of him and Ino stayed stunned and the Chidori _speared_ through Itachi and the clone dispersed in a thousand silent crows and Sasuke's hand plunged into Naruto's chest.

Everything stopped.

Sakura screamed.

The two boys were petrified, staring into each other's eyes. Naruto's hand rose, grabbing Sasuke's arm – Ino felt a surge of nausea at the sight of Sasuke's hand, covered in Naruto's blood, piercing out of Naruto's back – and pulling it out of his body. Sasuke was in shock.

They stumbled away from one another. Naruto collapsed, convulsing with ragged coughs that forced him to lean on his right arm, the side which wasn't— He couldn't keep his eyes on Sasuke anymore. Then he fell.

Sasuke – Ino had never seen an expression that compared to Sasuke's in that moment.

His face was spattered with Naruto's blood.

Ino was – she couldn't look away.

Sakura ran past her.

She ran toward Naruto, laid him down on the ground, none-too-gently pushing him, and once he was, put her glowing hands on his chest. There was red running directly out of his chest, so much that the earth couldn't absorb it and it pooled around him. He wasn't healing. The rain started pattering down.

Ino gulped a few mouthfuls of air, but the inside of her throat and her chest were burning. Sasuke was frozen.

Maybe that was why they were all too slow, but all at once Itachi was over Sakura with a kunai dispassionately swooping down on her neck, and Ino did the stupidest thing ever.

She made the shintenshin seal, and propelled her mind into Itachi's body.

Uchiha Itachi's body.

The moment she felt herself in fumbling control of the body of one of the most dangerous shinobi alive, the moment she realised she was staring down as her best friend's fluffly pink hair and too white forehead was the moment she snapped.

"Kill him!"

They looked up at her, Sakura and Sasuke, at her in Itachi's body, with blank hollowness in their eyes. Sakura's hands continuing infusing Naruto's body with her life chakra.

They were lost, broken, and she didn't have the _time_ , any second in control was a chance that would never come back again, shintenshin was suicide against the sharingan and this wasn't just any mere sharingan user she was possessing, it was Itachi, _Mangekyou_ Itachi, and though his mind's image wasn't yet standing in front of her she could feel his resistance at the edges of her conscience.

For now she could keep him immobile and talk out of his mouth, but her control was fraying thin already, she couldn't hope she'd be able to kill her himself and get out of the body soon enough, she couldn't even hope she'd be able to make him kill himself _at all_ , and in any case the kunai had slipped out of Itachi's grasp when she'd seized control, and – leaning down, just that – that would be too much.

"Kill him, already! I'm not gonna be able to hold him much longer!"

Sakura pinched her lips and wordlessly looked down at Naruto, pressing her hands harder. Sasuke's eyelids batted.

Ino's rage and panic was mounting – she could feel Itachi's mental presence prowling around the tiny room she'd at once imagined around her, as soon as she'd guessed his spirit couldn't be subdued.

She reinforced the door with a thought – metal, and bars, heavy and new – and kept glancing around her to make sure he wouldn't sneak a window into her picture of the room, but she couldn't do more than hold on.

He had spent longer than Sasuke exploring and unbreaking and constructing his mind until he knew all its ins and outs, and Ino didn't doubt that he pictured his mind as a wide, well-lit corridor that never gave a turn and never let him down, the purity of complete order, but on the other side of that door, Ino knew, _she'd_ only find chaos.

She had known ever since Sakura and Naruto had decided to accompany Sasuke in his quest that Itachi meant madness.

Ino had already been inside jagged minds, and she had _hated_ it, hated the feeling of there being _something_ out there out to get her and that she could never ever ever ever control, only slow down, she'd hated the feeling ever since That Match against Sakura when she had almost been crushed to death...

She was more experienced now, was no longer a twelve-year-old genin who had no idea her ex-best friend of a rival, her Sakura, wasn't completely right in the head, and so she kept the mental door blocked and refused to imagine what Itachi's mind must look like on the other side.

Naruto's breathing, she noticed, was steady.

Ino felt her heart leap in joy then jolt in horror as, inside of the safe room, she watched with disbelief the walls slowly closing up on her.

She gestured Itachi's body wildly, throwing his arms in the air – grabbing Sakura or Sasuke and shaking would take way too much concentration, she couldn't do that on top of keeping Itachi out and screaming her mind – not, not screaming her mind, because her mind was firmly in Itachi'd body and _not getting anywhere_ , he _couldn't_ push her out that easily – but screaming her opinion, yes, yes, that she could do.

The door rattled in its hinges and Ino glared at it with desperate inspiration, _he doesn't have the key, you don't open, nobody gets in if they don't have the key._

Then she turned her attention outside again.

"GODDAMNIT SOMEONE KILL ME, YES!"

Sasuke jolted as though an electric shock had gone through him, and Ino admitted that it wasn't the best thing ever to shout at someone who'd just pseudo-killed their best friend, but she _didn't have the time_.

There was a click at the door.

 _He had invented himself a key._

Ino threw herself in front of the door and slammed her weight into her back and into her feet. There was no time. They were in shock, they were all exhausted, she was almost finished, if they didn't kill Itachi right now he was going to repel her and judging from the strength of his attacks he was _far_ from being as shaken as they all were, and _damn_ , why didn't Sasuke just _do_ something?

 _Feet rooted to the ground_ , she thought as hard as she could.

If she did it well she wouldn't be able to get out when they killed Itachi, not unless she was really really fast and he didn't think of preventing her, but Sakura was _still_ kneeling next to Naruto and Itachi was _still_ standing over her and if he didn't die he'd have a clean shot at _her_ , at _Sakura_ , and that _was not an option_.

Naruto's eyelids fluttered.

"SASUKE! YOUR BOYFRIEND'S ALIVE, SO STOP IT WITH THE SELF-PITY AND FUCKING _KILL YOUR BROTHER ALREADY_! THAT NOT YOUR GOAL, OR WHAT!"

Sasuke blinked at her as if he was the one waking up. There were two ribbons of glittering blood trickling down his chin, diluted by the rain drops falling on his face. He'd been injured, Ino understood in a flash, before they'd arrived, inner injuries they'd had no chance to spot before.

Too slow.

In Itachi's mind, Ino stared down at her bark-covered legs. Fire-tongues were leeching from the slit under the door – where a minute ago there had been no slits – and it wouldn't be long before Itachi willed his Katon strong enough to reach her and burn through her wooden flesh.

"You'd die," Sasuke muttered numbly.

Ino bit on her lip, tears streaming down her face when the first flame curled around her ankle. _I'll... cry... a... river._ But her thoughts were weak, pain scattering them further, and her major focus _had to be_ the door behind her, how solid and unbreakable it was – and not how the metal was growing too hot against her back, or how her _legs_...

"THEN KILL ME AND BE DONE WITH IT!"

In despair, she cried out to Sakura.

Sakura, best friend, rival, most precious person, cherished one, who would never let her team down and who would be willing to make any sacrifice for them.

And the only one in any state to do anything now.

"SAKURA! IF YOU DON'T DO IT, YOU WILL ALL DIE! SO KILL HIM AND BE DONE WITH ME!"

Behind her, the door broke.

"DO IT!"

Then the last synapses she was connected to surged with blood, and she knew no more.

"You are awake."

Ino was surrounded by bright whiteness. She noticed this before she even saw Itachi. He was looking at her, calmly, and it was obvious he had been the one to talk – equally calmly. It was surreal, even in the way that as a kunoichi, a shintenshin user, and a friend of Team Seven, Ino had had her fair share of brushes with surrealism.

"I'm alive?" she wondered out loud.

Then she cursed herself. Talk about stupid questions. He'd just said she was _awake_. Which implied her being alive, which in turn implied that she was likely a prisoner of Itachi's Mangekyou.

Except his eyes were black.

Ino stared, struck by the sudden memory of the boy who'd been her first crush, when she'd just been old enough to start the Academy. (And, somewhere, further away than she'd thought was possible, noticing a resemblance between him and Sasuke for what felt like the first time; an after-thought.)

Itachi was unfazed.

"You may be," he acknowledged.

She was about to voice her incredulity, when she thought better of it. Obviously he was either fucking with her mind, either she was having one of those bizarre near-death experiences. In either case, letting Uchiha Itachi know the uncertainty was getting to her, if not killing her, seemed unnecessary.

"Ah." She licked her lips. "And, huh, how do you know? And while we're at it, where I am?"

There was no echo in this place, wherever they were.

"I am able to see you while my Sharingan isn't activated; and we are in the Mangekyou."

Ino frowned.

"Why would you be unable to see me—" her eyes widened.

"I'm going blind. I can't see anything at all without the Sharingan, nowadays." He paused. "I would have thought every Leaf-nin would have been told by now."

"Does Sasuke know that?" Ino demanded once she'd stopped gaping.

Itachi ignored her.

Ino's brain caught up with the rest.

"How can we be in the Mangekyou if you don't have your sharingan on – and why would it affect you as well – but mostly, how can the Mangekyou work if you're not using your sharingan?"

"I think we owe this to you," Itachi remarked, with a sweeping casual look over the whiteness. "Using Shintenshin on a Sharingan user is foolish, Yamanaka."

His tone didn't contain a hint of reprimand; he was merely stating a fact.

The many retorts Ino could have flung back at that were carefully locked behind Ino's sealed lips, though she couldn't keep them from flying through her mind. _Attacking Sakura was foolish. To protect her, I'd have been ready to be much more foolish. Don't I know it. Yes, and if it'd been up to me it would've been a moot point, but nobody asked me, alright?_

"But I supposed it proved effective," he continued. "Who are you?"

 _I—what?_

"I'm sorry, I'm caught in a Mangekyou-engineered hallucination with no certitude as to whether I'm alive or not, or whether Sakura and the others _are_ , for that matter, you're right in front of me, and you're telling me that _madness-induced brain shortcircuit was effective_? Not to be rude, but are you completely—"

Ino forcefully clenched her jaws and valiantly struggled against the seething incredulity. Not, at this point, because she thought angering him might be a bad idea, but simply because she already knew his reaction would result in _nothing_ but additional frustration. (She also needed to breathe.)

 _Batshit crazy._

Yeah.

She knew that.

She drew a breath and released it steadily, trying to talk herself out of her anger. It'd be pointless anyway.

"It was effective enough. I'm dead."

Slowly, Ino looked at him again. His expression wasn't that of someone who'd learned they'd just died, in her opinion.

"You didn't tell me who you are," he reminded her.

"...Yamanaka Ino," she muttered. She found herself unable to take her eyes away; unable to wrap her brain around what he'd just told her. "I'm Sakura's best friend. Uh... chuunin, if that's what you were asking about."

Uchiha Itachi had been defeated by a party of two chuunin and two genin. _Overpowered_ genin and one chuunin, but still...

"I wouldn't have imagined you were there for the kunoichi," he idly said. "The centers of attraction are the jinchuuriki and my brother, from what I've witnessed."

Ino bristled.

"Forehead's Tsunade-sama's apprentice, and pretty much the only person _I_ know who could've kept her team from being an even bigger tragedy than it already was." Without realising, she'd drawn herself to her full height, and, flipping her hair behind her shoulder, was now glaring at Itachi with her chin up in the air. "She's gone missing-nin for her team, and I'm not sure about Naruto, but I _certainly_ have doubts that your brother, at least, deserves her!"

He didn't react to Ino's incendiary lashing out the way she'd been prepared to deal with it, should push come to shove. If he ever had any fraternal feelings left.

"You followed her as well."

Ino's glare grew fiercer.

Her hands were tingling with the fury she felt that that man – that wretched excuse for a human being – would so easily dismiss her Sakura as being unworthy of attachment. Not that _that man_ knew anything about love, but how did he dare imply that Sakura wasn't just as good – how could anyone deny that her Sakura was _much, much_ better than Itachi's whiny traitor of a brother – that she was worth twenty Narutos.

 _Anyone_ should see that.

And this man – this man who was the cause of _so much heartbreak_ , of Sasuke's vandalised childhood, of Naruto's almost dying several times over, of Sakura's sudden waking up an adult with adult problems, with problems no-one should have to deal with, with a team ripping apart and one teammate a traitor almost killing her other teammate, problems that Ino would've given her soul to spare her if she'd realised what was going on, if she hadn't been so blind when she was twelve and Sakura was twelve and struggling with things much, much too big for Ino and for Sakura, Sakura who had made a choice she should never have had to face and who would never go back on it – didn't.

" _Anyone_ would have. Anyone _normal_."

 _She's that great._

The whiteness didn't echo, but Ino's icy sentence haunted the nothingness for a long while, as Ino tried to bore holes into Itachi's head.

"You're normal."

It sounded almost like a musing; he was observing her with his head tilted slightly to the side.

She didn't understand why, but the words hit like a blow square in the chest.

"Yes," she finally pushed past gritted teeth.

Yeah, she wasn't like Team Seven, she was _normal_. She didn't have anything to prove. And if she had, she'd already proven it, hadn't she? So someone normal could do great things, too. If Sakura was alive, then she'd definitely done her great thing.

So what if she was the one trapped there in the Mangekyou with Uchiha Itachi, when she was the one who had the least rights to it. It was just the way the battle had gone.

So what if she wasn't part of Team Seven. She was still there. She'd followed Sakura. She'd been there for her.

"Using Shintenshin against a Sharingan user is foolish," he repeated softly.

"Madness, you mean," Ino lashed.

The blunt teeth of exhaustion were closing upon her bones, the battle taking its emotional toll; she didn't care that she was showing him how weary she was, she was past the point of seeing through things untold to analyse the threat it contained. She'd deal with this one – because it was obvious there was a threat there – when it became clearer.

"Ah," he said.

Itachi smiled.

At least it looked like a smile; admittedly, an Itachi-like kind of smile, so minuscule Ino wasn't sure it wasn't just wishful thinking, she reflected before she opened her eyes onto green trees topped by an azure patch of sky.

She blinked in suprise, then determined that she was warmish, wet, and propped up against a tree with a security blanket pulled around her and a small fire crackling merrily before her.

She shot the audacious flames a dirty look, which they ignored with merry crackling sounds, and she felt a sneer pull at the corner of her lips. It wasn't completely rational, but given that not very long ago, she'd been part wood and in the process of being eaten alive by mental fire, she supposed she might be forgiven the current lapse in sanity.

However, as she had no wish for it to perdure as more than a lapse, she shook the feeling and tried to stand up.

She grimaced as the move awoke a few bruises her body must have received when she'd abandoned it with no warning, but she was pleased and more than a little relieved to find herself steady on her own two feet, without even a bout of dizziness. Pretty much perfect post-shintenshin physical condition.

It must've been pouring while she was unconscious; the ground was muddy even under where the trees acted as a natural sort of roof. In fact, she'd been sitting in the only patch of dryness – that looked a lot like it'd been dried by a doton of some kind, now she thought about it.

A heap of what could only be articles of clothing – torn, dirtied and in various states of bloodiness – stood (Ino used the word loosely) not far away. Ino thought she recognised one of Karin's cloth thighboots.

She could only imagine how miffed the other girl must have been at the sacrifice. In Karin's place, she'd be miffed as well. The cloth thighboots were an accessory Ino had already been planning to add to her wardrobe when she was back in Konoha. She'd have to never let Sakura – or, kami forbid, any of Team Hebi should they end up at the village for some reason – see them, but the effort'd be totally worth it.

Time to go and find them, then, since it was obvious they were back.

There hadn't been anyone at her side; and while it didn't sit all that quietly with Ino, at least it meant that no-one had died. Otherwise there'd have been one of them there, waiting for her to wake up. Supposedly to tell her; in fact, all she'd have needed to do was look at their face. It wasn't all legend that you could read on someone's face when they were about to announce a death.

Ino had gone through it once already. A chuunin on an escort mission, a few years older than her. She had been the one to announce it to the last one, who'd fainted in the middle of the fight due to bloodloss.

Of all of them, the only one who might be able to school his features well enough that she wouldn't gather the news at first glance was Sasuke ( _unless, of course, it was Sakura or Naruto who'd died... but Ino didn't think she'd have woken at all if it'd been the case_ ), and she couldn't imagine why anyone in their right mind would leave him with such a role.

Especially not when there were much more suitable candidates for the task, Sakura to begin with.

All of which didn't explain _where_ they'd gone.

Or how long she'd been out, now she thought about it.

It wasn't anywhere near sunset, and she didn't _feel_ as if she'd spent the night _propped against a tree_. They wouldn't have dared. Sakura wouldn't have left her in damp clothes, either.

"Oh, you're up."

Ino turned at the voice.

Suigetsu was grinning his toothy smirk at her, before he added, "Welcome back to the world of the living."

He walked up to the fire, smiling at it a bit too widely for entire comfort, with a spring in his step. Ino stared. Definitely a spring. She tried to come up with the last time she'd seen Suigetsu walk with more than a Shikamaruish slouch, and drew a blank.

"You look happy."

Her tone made it perfectly clear she wasn't getting it.

He was also bared-chested, except for the bandages wrapped around him. Ino supposed his shirt must have been one of the casualties in the fight against Kisame. Karin must just love that.

"I've got Kisame's sword," he answered easily. His smile had turned a shade darker.

Ino nodded; over the past three weeks, the topic of what drove the other nin had arisen more than once. It was unavoidable, with Naruto in the group. Except that Ino suddenly realised Naruto hadn't ever spoken of his goal of becoming the Hokage during their discussions. He only spoke of getting Sasuke back to Konoha, sometimes with a smile as if there was a huge joke he wasn't sharing, when Team Seven had had a good day, sometimes with a glare at Sasuke, when the Uchiha had proven difficult.

"Where are the others?"

Suigetsu pointed to the left.

"We're just over there, there's a pretty little stream. Sasuke and his guardians are..." He made a very vague encompassing gesture. "Somewhere around. I don't know exactly where and Karin refuses to share. They'll come back when they're done."

His careless tone seemed a little forced, but Ino didn't call him on it.

"Done?" she interrogated.

"Yeah, with whatever it is those three feel they have to deal with. I think that includes how to dispose of Itachi's body, though, so I wouldn't be actually all that surprised if bits of the landscape started taking fire and rising into the air."

Ino nodded; Suigetsu sent her a knowing glance. She hadn't really thought of how they'd deal with the immediate aftermath of Itachi's death, or even if any of the three had, and now Suigetsu mentioned it, it seemed likely that there'd be another Team Seven argument about how to go at it. Well, at least Sakura was likely to have. She could oppose whatever stupid notion Sasuke came up with at least long enough that Naruto caught up.

Well, she couldn't do anything about it right now.

"Karin agreed to wait at a place you suggested?" she asked in a blatant attempt to think about something else. "Is there a concussion you're not telling me about?"

Which, once she'd said it, didn't seem half as funny as it did in her mind.

Suigetsu looked amused again.

"I think she wanted to wash badly enough that she leapt on the idea. Now, not that I mind talking with you, but Karin sent me get you when she sensed you'd awakened, so maybe we should get moving?"

"I'm just up," Ino complained even as she fell into step behind him. "Why am I the one who has to move?"

"You'd say no to a _bath_?" She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was amused.

There were times she wished he'd treat her a little less like he treated Karin. Even if Ino wasn't as bothered as the Sound girl, it didn't mean she wasn't annoyed. However, the suggestion deserved her attention, no matter the tone it'd been uttered with.

Damp clothes were not comfortable, and Ino had the disagreeable sensation that they – or she – carried a faint smell of musty, unpleasant dirt and sweat.

"That depends. Is the onsen co-ed?"

And maybe they'd be able to tell her how Itachi had been killed.

He may have snorted in answer, but it was drowned out by Karin's loud calling when they turned after a particularly huge tree and came out onto the stream.

"Oh, good, it only took you _fifteen minutes_ to get her here."

Karin and Juugo were both sitting on convenient-looking stumps, the sun falling on them. Juugo had had his eyes closed, soaking in the sun's warmth, when Karin spoke; his eyelids opened, and he greeted Ino with a serious nod. He was bandaged-up too, Ino noticed, but more extensively than Suigetsu, and there was a black cloak folded next to his feet. A similar bundle rested to Karin's.

Karin, even with the dressing covering about half her face and setting her glasses slightly askew, looked clean and scrubbed, even her _hair_ seemed less awful than it'd been lately. Her right boot had been torn at mid-calf level, the leg emerging from the boot covered with a thin layer of bandages, indicative of skin injuries and not grave wounds.

Watching them, Ino suddenly shivered, realising that she really was pretty cold.

Suigetsu's only answer was a wide grin Karin's way. Karin bristled and crossed her arms tighter, but relaxed after only a few moments. That was different.

"You should sit down, Ino. You look cold." Juugo was looking at her with something like faint concern.

"Yeah yeah," Suigetsu interjected. "Hey, Karin, move your fat ass and let Ino sit. _She_ got hurt."

"WHOSE ASS IS FAT?!"

Ino let herself drop on the stump vacated by Karin when the Sound girl launched herself at Suigetsu with a howl, welcoming the caress of sun on her skin, easing the bone-deep chill that clung to her. Karin could only blame herself for being dumb enough to fall for it. Nice of Suigetsu, too. Or else he was so used to mocking her that he couldn't let the obvious jibe pass.

Between Karin's claws, Suigetsu was losing his smirk as the girl continued shrieking at him, and Ino could feel the moment he'd start grimacing and pleading with her to release him. Loudly. Or change into water and run between her fingers, which would only frustrate her more.

Her head might hurt a little, after all. Which wasn't too bad, she'd had worse in the wake of some possessions which had really gone out of hand – though, all things considered, she wasn't sure there'd been one that had ever got _as_ out of hand as a S-class criminal setting fire to her _in their own mind_ – but was bound to get worse if the noise level rose higher.

With a start, Juugo stood up.

"Here, Karin. You can have my seat."

Ino removed her fingers from the temples she'd been massaging and looked at him. Karin looked up from the place she'd been attempting to throttle Suigetsu.

"Juugo, you're not supposed to move around. Sit down. Now, this bastard—" she shook Suigetsu, in case anyone could have missed who she meant, "—is going to use one of his two _giant swords_ and make me another one."

"Hey," Suigetsu flatly said, managing to convey the force of ten 'I'm not your servant' speeches in a single word and still appear totally unaffected by Karin's assumption.

"You, shut up. Do something useful," she ordered.

Something to do with the fight, Ino figured when Karin let go of him and, grumbling, he hauled his older sword to his shoulder. Maybe he felt guilty over Juugo's wounds.

"Now," Karin called Ino's attention away from her teammate, standing in front of her with her hands on her hips, "I'll just wait until he's back with my seat."

She looked like she wanted to impress upon Ino the sacrifices she was making for her sake.

Ino could sympathise. She'd done this enough herself to know how it hurt when you were forced to let go of your rightful privileges when one of your teammates needed them more than you did.

Her team – that is, Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei – used to say she had entitlement issues, which was why Chouji was the only one with whom she'd have been amenable to sharing a seat with even when he wasn't hurt, had 1)the seats been big enough to accomodate both of them (Chouji's fault, Ino could fit _anywhere_ , where even Sakura couldn't), and 2)the idea of being pressed against Chouji's side not made her goddamn uncomfortable.

Instead, Chouji was the only one she pretended was here when the rest of her team had made her angry. And she made sure she was sickeningly sweet toward him.

Karin was eyeing her.

"You look like you're okay for someone who's been knocked out by the Sharingan."

Which wasn't news, as Suigetsu would have hardly missed an opportunity to tell her how shitty she looked, with cheerful matter-of-factness, but Karin made it sound like a criticism. You had to admire it.

"Mhm," Ino acquiesced. She could only take their word on it, she thought, running a hand through the tangles in her hair and grimacing inwardly at the sticky, rough texture. Ew ew ew. Thank the kami for streams. "How long have I been out, by the way?"

Karin crossed her arms and took a speculative air.

"What with the time since we came back – and then how long _they_ said they thought you'd been out—" they, in Karin's mouth and given the context, being Sakura, but Karin didn't mention directly Sasuke's girl teammate if she could avoid it "—about three hours."

She gave Ino a critical one-over. Ino felt acutely her lack of physical injuries, and restrained her retort that she _had_ been the one keeping Itachi occupied while Sakura healed Naruto and Sasuke was too busy being in shock to be of any help.

"Congratulations," Karin deadpanned.

Ino ignored the remark. There were more pressing matters to be kept in mind.

"How were they?" _Was Sakura alright? Were they hurt?_

"Naruto was wounded; I think it must be completely gone by now. Unless he got himself injured since then," Karin allowed. Ino thought she was referring to Sakura, until she saw Karin wasn't smirking. Then she realised Karin was thinking of Sasuke.

"Sasuke was a bit peakish," Juugo added. "I think he may have been beaten up but Sakura had healed him already."

"She didn't have anything?" she wanted to make sure.

"I don't think so. But it was hard to see, there was so much blood..."

"They were drenched in it," Karin muttered with a far-away look.

A shudder broke over Ino. Images of Naruto – Naruto's wound ran through her mind. Impaled. Blood splashing everywhere, Sasuke's white shirt gone dark, not so much scarlet as crimson. Naruto's clothes black with the liquid. Sasuke's skin, as if he'd been struck by a paintball. His _arm_ , when he'd pulled it out of Naruto's chest. Sakura's hands, and the stains she was getting on her skirt.

And then there'd been Itachi.

"How much did you see of what happened?"

Karin's clear gaze was fixed on her. Intense but devoid of animosity, this time; only shining with a determination that reminded uneasily Ino of – other people.

Her eyelids batted once, and she looked down. So they didn't know either...

"You can't ask her to answer that, Karin. Sasuke'll tell us when he tells us, or he won't at all, but it's not fair that you put Ino on the spot for it. Not fair for anyone," Juugo said softly.

"...I know."

Karin had sounded unsure, almost bitter. Ino couldn't bring herself to look up yet, and it was a huge wave of relief when she heard Suigetsu come back to them. He seemed to make a point of making as much noise as he could when he walked, generally, and right now he was being even noisier. Dragging stumps, Ino assumed. Until she'd met him, she hadn't believed it was possible for anyone to be even _less_ discreet a walker as Chouji (something about crisps bags).

"Alright, Your Highness, your seat's arrived, so you can shut up now and do us all a favour."

He casually threw a large log at Karin's feet, so she had to jump backward to avoid it, grinning cheekily as he did, clearly challenging her to rebuke him when he'd just complied to her command.

"In my opinion, that was worth it," he commented, dragging his own log closer until the four made a circle, and allowing his arm to return to its normal twiggy state as he sagged on his new seat with obvious satisfaction.

"In mine as well. Five more minutes without your incessant babbling, just imagine," Karin replied, crossing her legs. The bandage on her right leg went almost all the way up to the hot pants, with less than one inch between the upper band and the black fabric; if Ino put two fingers there, they'd brush both bandages and shorts.

"Guys," Juugo interrupted quietly.

Watching the three of them was like watching a team. Karin and Suigetsu were frequent and loud in their claims that they didn't care _in the slightest_ for the other two, but there was a sort of familiarity in the way the three of them interacted that tightened Ino's throat.

She missed Konoha so much. She missed her team so much. She missed the genin brats just learning how to work together when they generally had nothing in common – and so _loud_ about it, as if they feared if they didn't make a scene people would actually believe they could get along with that crazy bitch/useless loser/stuck-up jerk/ _them_ – so much.

She missed Sakura so much, too, when she saw her every day.

If things had worked out differently they could have been like that, Sakura and her, and someone else. She'd thought she'd had a taste of it when the three of them, Sakura and Naruto and her, had left on their chase for Sasuke. In parts she hadn't been wrong. But nothing could erase the difference in Ino's status then. She'd known it before, obviously; Sakura and Naruto were chasing after Sasuke, and Ino was mostly there for Sakura. She hadn't resented Sakura for it.

But today, sitting with Team Hebi, she couldn't stop the regrets over what could have been.

She felt like an intruder.

She had no idea why they'd asked her to join them – the seats, everything, made it clear they'd wanted to discuss things.

Ino hated blind guesses, and she didn't feel up to mind games either.

That may have been because she wasn't sure any of them might possess the trickiness and motivation needed for it.

Oh, Suigetsu was tricky alright, but he liked blunt truths and his own amusement far too much. Interacting with him was a bit like interacting with Temari if Ino tried to get her to help Ino make Shikamaru carry the shopping bags. He was more of a spectator.

Karin, Ino didn't _entirely_ dismiss. She'd worked for Orochimaru, after all, and it certainly hadn't been for her combat abilities. But if she _was_ playing mind-games, she was a _far_ superior actress than anyone Ino could hope to take off-guard.

So she asked.

"Why am I here?"

She eyed each of them as she carefully spoke. None of them pretended to misunderstand her question; it saved everyone a great deal of cutting through the rubbish and double-meanings ripe with the unsaid and potential paranoia, and as such Ino welcomed it.

Suigetsu shrugged. "You'd have gone looking for them. And we're curious."

"It wouldn't be fair to quizz Ino about it," Juugo repeated.

"And we wouldn't want you to be all lonesome by yourself at such a moment. We're nice people like that."

Karin sent Suigetsu the sort of glance that'd have been more appropriate if he'd confessed up to liking girls with a spirit – disgusted and thoroughly unimpressed.

"How do you come up with all this shit?" she demanded. "Is it a natural skill or do you just do it because you know it causes me _pain_?"

"A natural gift enhanced by your inspiring presence," Suigetsu replied without batting an eyelid. "The sign from above that we have great teamwork."

Karin snorted.

"The only way we have 'great teamwork', dipshit, is how I daily refrain from killing you by boiling you into thin air. And the only way _that_ could be considered teamwork is when you're using the same dictionary as our three crazy Leaves over there."

Ino wanted both to point out that they _had_ succeeded in killing Uchiha Itachi, and to protest that Team Seven's definition of teamwork was _not_ the norm in Konoha.

"Did they tell you where they went?"

To her own ears, she sounded... anxious. Shaken. Hurt. Maybe. Which she wasn't; she got that they wanted to be alone to deal with Itachi's remains, and maybe talk. Really, she did.

"Dispose of Itachi's body, I'd say."

"Stop Sasuke from doing something stupid. And probably take his mind off of it at some point. Oh, come on," Suigetsu said off Karin's expression. "Stop with the denial already. The pug-face's not an attractive look for you, even if you're a bitch." He grinned at her.

"Or they'll blow up the forest and we all die," he added as an after-thought.

Basic defense mechanism meant to undercut the weight of what he'd said before. Suigetsu was like that, Ino supposed. Putting up weak excuses to avoid being taken seriously when he, presumably, was most. That or he wasn't one-hundred percent convinced of what he said and he didn't want the ridicule if he turned out to be wrong, and so pretended it was a joke all along. Ino wasn't sure.

"I don't know," Juugo said pensively. "I don't think they are going to fight. Or... not with jutsus, anyway."

A brief pause that made Ino wonder what she'd missed when she'd been out.

"How were they when you arrived?"

The normal question was 'Why do you think they are going to fight?' but given who they were talking about, it wasn't even worth considering. Cold day in Suna before Team Seven didn't have an excuse to fight, and didn't give the impression massive maiming was liable to occur in a very short future.

Ino looked at each of them as she waited for their answer and they exchanged looks.

Her heart was beating too loudly in her chest, she didn't know why.

"Team Seven-ish," Suigetsu succinctly replied.

As if was enough. As if it was an explanation. As if it was supposed to explain _everything_.

And it was – it explained that some things couldn't be explained.

Ino got that as well as the members of Team Hebi.

They may be less blind of Team Seven's bonds, to use Naruto's much-loved word, they'd only ever be outside looking in. Team Seven may rush into things without _thinking_ , not realise how _far_ they were going, how _frightening_ that was, never get the big picture, they were the only ones who could make sense of the details.

"This feels so _weird_ ," Karin grumbled darkly.

Suigetsu laughed incredulously at her. "What, you mean you actually didn't see it coming?"

Karin glared. Suigetsu's eyes curved into a malicious smirk. "Or do you mean to tell me you actually thought there was a chance it might _not_ happen? I smell denial!"

Ino, for once stumped, frowned and looked at Juugo for a hint. Who had an impassive air, as though he'd witnessed a similar scene a thousand time already and was only waiting for this one to end or need be ended.

"You can't seriously mean you're jealous; travelling's going to be such a _pain_ tomorrow, you should be glad—"

This time, he obtained what he was aiming for. Karin scrambled to her feet, flushed and glaring, and screamed at him, "Shut up! Okay? Just because _you_ got your life dream today—can you please just SHUT UP?"

Sometimes Ino felt like the Team Seven disease was spreading. Sometimes she felt like she was the only one with a normal team relationship in the _world_. Then she remembered that it obviously must be it, because out of the teams of the Konoha Twelve, Team Ten was the normal one.

Suigetsu wasn't done snickering, though.

"So, so uncomfortable. You should be glad you won't be the one hurting all over, really."

Karin was well on her way toward livid.

Juugo's calm voice cut through the impending drama. "Let's talk about something else," he said.

At another time, Ino might've agreed, more because she was fed up with Suigetsu and Karin's tension than out of cautiousness concerning his abilities. She'd had the feeling that last was at least part of the reason why Suigetsu and Karin ever listened to him.

Had she known him under different circumstances, she might've done the same – she was intentionally abrasive, not brain-dead – she'd witnessed two of Juugo's crises in the first week the two groups had joined up. But since then Sakura had put together pills that left him in control, and despite that Suigetsu and Karin hadn't changed their way of dealing with their fourth team member.

That was one of the reasons Ino suspected there might be more to Team Hebi than mutual putting up with the others because Sasuke had told them to.

In any case, her curiousity had been piqued, and _that_ took absolute priority.

"Why do you think the walking will be so unpleasant, anyway? I don't expect them to resolve their problems all in one day, obviously, but still, Forehead and Naruto should be able to beat off the depression, don't you think?"

"They'll have _resolved_ it all right," Suigetsu sniggered.

Ino looked at him strangely.

"But it's so _weird_ ," Karin insisted with a sniff. "I mean, _we_ are here, pretending to be busy and blissfully ignorant, and _they_ are _out there_ , doing—" She cut herself off. " _Weird_ ," she concluded.

"That you're passively waiting instead of marching in to interrupt them?" Suigetsu charitably asked. Then, turning toward Ino, "I don't think it'll be _unpleasant_ , except for one or two or _all_ of them—" he smiled wickedly "—but it's certainly going to be _interesting_."

"You're talking as though it was a _done_ thing," Karin accused. "And we're not sure yet, _it might not be_!"

Ino was feeling more and more like she'd stumbled into a reunion between spies who were only talking in jargon.

Juugo shifted.

Suigetsu let out another incredulous laugh.

Karin glared at him a white-hot glare. " _They might not_. Maybe it's too soon!"

"Karin..."

She ignored Juugo's careful intervention.

"Well, maybe it _is_! We all know how _repressed_ Sasuke is, so even if he's aware of—of _it_ , and our observations are _far_ from conclusive, there's _no way_ he'd act on it."

Half-formed, untold ideas were starting to seep into Ino's mind as she stared at the Sound girl, and a deep weight settled at the pit of her stomach.

"I think if they start fucking the awareness into him, even he'll be hard-pressed to deny it. Specially given the way he's been."

"He might not," Karin persisted; but she was clearly grasping at straws. "Maybe he won't—maybe they'll be too busy burning Itachi's body!"

"And nothing'll happen in front of the funerary pyre?" Amusement had gone out of Suigetsu's countenance now. He sounded mostly exasperated. "Karin, I know it's hard to accept and you were wetting your panties at the mere idea of popping Sasuke's cherry, but you really gotta stop the denial – I swear, you're worse than he is – and admit that even as we're speaking, his teammates are sexing him up. And I'm not discounting the option that there might not be any travelling tomorrow. At all."

Karin hotly replied; or maybe she threw herself at Suigetsu again to bash his skull in.

Ino didn't know.

At some point, she'd stopped listening. Stopped paying attention to anything at all as Suigetsu's words echoed through her mind again, and again, and again. She couldn't make anything out except how hard breathing had suddenly become ( _teammates are sexing him up_ ). The buzzing drum in her ears deafened the noises from outside, like she was under water ( _they'll have resolved it all right_ ).

Images flashed through her mind of what she'd seen but never read ( _the way he's been_ ), not missing the big picture but stopping at its interpretation ( _so weird_ ). Sakura and Naruto and Sasuke, always... ( _Team Seven-ish_ )

Words were coming back to her, that she'd said without meaning them ( _YOUR BOYFRIEND IS ALIVE, SO_ ), only to get a reaction out of them, and also because that was exactly how it looked like, and she'd never realised, she'd never thought, even as she watched how _all about Team Seven Team Seven was_ , it was exactly what it was ( _stop the denial_ ). Phrases and expressions she'd shared with Team Hebi she'd never realised they didn't mean metaphorically, when she'd just been using them as mocking remarks, to quell her exasperation and her slight hurt ( _you actually thought there was a chance_ ).

It was always _Sasuke first_.

( _and they are out there, doing—_ )

Ino stopped paying attention.

Some time later, Sakura and Naruto and Sasuke returned, the three others welcoming them almost as if nothing had happened. Maybe Karin was scowling a little, and Suigetsu was smirking, and Juugo wasn't looking at anyone in their eyes.

All she could focus on was them, the sated glow in their eyes, the rumples in their clothes, the way their hair was sticking out in every direction.

How, when they prepared dinner, Naruto and Sakura dropped the mask and clung closer to Sasuke than they'd ever done before and Sasuke let them, one on each side of him and so close he must feel their body heat. The cautious manner Sasuke was moving, Naruto's too frequent touches on both his teammates, his too proud, too happy grin.

How Sakura was smiling.

At nothing in particular, at both of them, affection shining off her face and relief and so much—so much love Ino wanted—

Ino didn't know what she wanted. To cry, to weep, every time she looked at them and every time she heard them – wondering if Sasuke was talking more or less than usual, wondering if Naruto was speaking in his normal tone, wondering it there might not be deeper, hidden meaning to their words she would never understand...

So many things around the three of them like a warm blanket of soft, cottony sunshine blinding Ino with tears.

Things like _need_ , _want_ , _devotion_ , _loyalty_ , _team_ , _only you_ and _never let go_ , things Ino wasn't sure were really there or she wasn't just imagining them through the brilliant blur, because there was love so much, so impossible to ignore she couldn't see past it.

When it was time to go to sleep, the three of them pushed their sleeping gear in the same area, as though they had always only slept this way. Sasuke moved his things slightly less far than the other two, not because he was unable to do more but because Sakura had put her things at one place and looked like she refused to step a few meters back to placate Sasuke's pride. Naruto's grin was gowing larger and larger by every ever-so-slightly stiff step Sasuke was taking and Sakura crossed her arms and didn't back down.

Naruto casually, gleefully put his arm on Sasuke's shoulders and around his neck, Sakura rested her hand on top of Sasuke's, the two of them entangled their legs together. Sasuke didn't break away. Ino couldn't see his face. With his free hand, he tugged higher the part of his shirt that had been threatening to slip down his neck and shoulder, then he leaned into his teammates.

They didn't say what they had done with Itachi's body.

Ino wasn't in a state to care. Their clothes were equally encrusted with blood.

The next morning Sakura sought her out when Ino had gone to take a bath. She was clutching a bundle of dark fabric. She'd emerged from between the trees and coughed to announce her presence; Ino had turned around, and gazed at her best friend standing there for a long while before realising she was naked in the stream, and, in spite of the warmth pooling in her insides at the sight of Sakura, she was cold with the water and the breeze chilling her skin where it wasn't underwater anymore.

Sakura didn't tell her what they'd done with Itachi, but she gave her the bundle.

"Could you keep it safe until we reach Konoha?"

Ino nodded.

"What is it?" she dully asked. She couldn't shake her mind off the reflection of how Sakura would look like when she kissed, her eyes closed and her hands pulling at Sasuke's shirt, Naruto's hand sliding under her skirt.

Sakura opened the bundle slightly, showing Ino the other side of the dark fabric.

Black, with red clouds.

Ino stared at it, stuck on the memory of the fight, and the strange facing-off with Itachi, in his or her mind.

"When we're back in Konoha, Naruto and I will be able to take it back. But as long as we travel, we don't want Sasuke that close to his things."

"His things?" Ino asked faintly.

"The cloak, his hitai-ite. His necklace. Things like that."

 _His eyes._

Sakura wasn't telling her everything. Ino knew it. But it was all right. Sakura had come to her, had entrusted her with her team's sanity.

The obvious question was, why don't you dispose of it, but Ino knew better than to ask it. For one, if she did, Sakura might change her mind. For another, Ino had long stopped trying to make normal sense out of Team Seven's coping mechanisms. Everyone had their own, and after a while it either did or didn't go. Shikamaru was only smoking when he'd gone to see Kurenai now.

Ino couldn't even guess who Itachi was to Sasuke any more. She didn't know him well enough. She just knew that Sakura trusted her enough with this.

Even if she didn't trust her with her team's secret, with the fact that they were together now.

"Of course," she heard herself speak.

Sakura smiled, tightly, like during the days she was alone in Konoha and Ino managed to break through her shell and get her to speak about her team. _'I can't tonight, Pig, I have three scrolls to read and Tsunade-shishou expects me at half past six at the hospital tomorrow morning.'_

Ino's heart broke a little when Sakura turned around and disappeared between the trees again, toward her team. Only after she couldn't hear or see any more of Sakura did she look down again toward the bundle.


End file.
